Our 7th Anniversary sale and NABSHOW 2017 Celebration.

Ok, first things first…

1. This is a big frakkin’ newsletter, so make sure you read all of it. You may miss something very important if you don’t.
2. We have several new products out now and more coming, including a new tools and a free upgrade to UberCam.
3. It’s our 7th Anniversary and we are celebrating all throughout the month of April (and the rest of March).
4. If you are coming to NABSHOW 2017, we want to meet up with you here in Las Vegas during the week of April 22nd – 27th.
5. We are NOT going out of business and our sales are not “down”.
6. The coupon code, which gets you 25% off your purchases for this sale is: WEARESEVEN

Back in December of 2016, Kat and Ryan were having a conversation regarding how there needed to be a better “Camera Operator” for LightWave3D. The concept was simple but the problems proved to be rather complex that it had to solve like any good real-world camera op. As LightWave artists we have always been looking for something that made it easier for us to access various functions of the cameras in LightWave while also “operating” them like a camera man, a Steadicam operator or DP on set would. Following and object from Point A to B and then following another object while making it seem natural but providing for an automated way for the camera to understand how to move as it tracks these objects was what was needed. Then Ryan went much, much further, and the result is RR CAM.

RR Cam is designed to greatly enhance the capabilities of LightWave cameras (including UberCam) with non-destructive, multi-constraint setups complete with motion layers and other quality camera editing tools. If you are familiar with Ryan’s other tools then you know already that they are fast, stable and easy to use.

Check out the videos below for details…

Since it’s release just over a month ago it has quickly become a staple for many LightWave artists who do a lot of previs work or primarily find themselves doing camera operation chores on shots with lots of action on the camera and the subjects in the scene.

Please note that since RR CAM is a Python Plug-in for LightWave3D (Layout), you will require LightWave3D 11.0 or better (including LightWave Next) for it to work.

VR Companion* (Coming soon, exclusively from Liberty3d.com)

Since the introduction of UberCam 2.0 and our Immersive Cameras used for VR image creation in LightWave3D, we have been asked by practically EVERY single customer who has bought UberCam for any kind of advice when it comes to quickly and easily viewing the renders these two cameras produce.

While we have made some recommendations in the past for solutions, we felt that many of them were not quite fitting the bill, so late last summer we quietly started work on something that would.

Enter VR Companion!

“So what the heck is it? What does it do? And what is with those funny looking “Amiga-like” balls??”

These are all great questions! We know you want answers, but we have to be a little bit secretive regarding what exactly VR Companion will do for features at the moment (since a lot of our tech/ideas keep getting stolen and put into other products by other companies). What we can say is that it is an Immersive VR format image (with video planned) viewer/checker and will run on MacOS as well as PC (and possibly more). As a stand-alone application, you don’t have to run it with LightWave to make use of it. This is very important as it means VR Companion can be used by anyone who needs to view VR Immersive Format images without jumping through hoops to do so. Every single VR content creator can make use of VR Companion and there are a lot of them out there whether they have a headset or not.
Now for those crazy, funny looking “Amiga-like” balls. Ah yes, odd looking things aren’t they? Indeed, but they serve a very special purpose. While it’s not widely known, Kat has had a long history (21 years now) of working with some very big companies who are in the business of producing test and measurement equipment as well as test patterns and “standards” for video/audio delivery and presentation systems. Believe it or not, there is a little bit of Kat in what is known today as the “Digital Cinema Pack”, and somewhere, some of his original test patterns are still being used to try and crash MPEG-based, hardware encoders/decoders used in transmission systems for video such as those found in TV satellites.
So if you haven’t guessed yet, those balls are part of a specially designed test pattern series that we have been working on as we continue to develop and refine the capabilities of UberCam, and now VR Companion.

With NAB coming up, this is the perfect opportunity for us to introduce VR Companion along with this test pattern series to the world. We will be dropping the update to UberCam (version 2.6) here shortly as well as VR companion so stay tuned for more details!
“But wait! What’s with the asterisk* at the top of this section next to the name VR Companion?”

The short answer to that is we haven’t settled entirely on a name yet. How would you like to help us decide and even get early access to VR Companion? Email kat@liberty3d.com for more to find out more!

Do you use Daz3D Characters?

If so you need to check out Ryan Roye’s Daz3D to LightWave Motion Capture plug-in and Video tutorial.

Have you checked out Practical Production Techniques Vol. 10 yet?

Battle of the 3rd Party Physics Engines for LightWave3D

It’s no secret that part of the amazing power of LightWave comes from 3rd Party developers. Like Liberty3d.com there are several 3rd party developers for LightWave that have been able to fill in the MASSIVE gaps in the software when it comes to certain tools that the LWG just simply won’t address for whatever reason. While we all eagerly await the release of LightWave 2017 or “LW Next” as some call it, two developers have stepped up to the plate this year by bringing us the other half of the VFX solution that we have been needing for decades. About 8 years ago we finally got Computational Fluid Dynamics based smoke and fire solution for LightWave3D that we could depend on with TurbulenceFD from Jawset and oh boy was that a godsend! While we have had access to NextLimit’s RealFlow for over 10 years, it was always a twitchy product and very expensive yet there was nothing else if you wanted realistic fluids in LightWave available. LiquidPack from DStorm didn’t really cut it past a certain point and long gone was Dynamic Realities product. Not fun times.

But now, almost at the same time, two developers have stepped up to the plate, both producing modern technology based solutions for realistic fluid effects in LightWave3D. Believe it or not, there is actually a 3rd solution that has been bouncing around as well for well over 2 years but hasn’t materialized yet as a commercial product.

We have been paying close attention to these products during their development phases and have spoken to both developers and we are testing both (expect to see tutorials from us soon).

We are very thankful for both DeepRising FX and HurleyWorks for doing what needed to be done and coming out with these two solutions. Make sure you check out their sites and learn all you can about them and see which one is right for you.
Deep Rising FX 1.1 is ready to go right now. It works. You can use it now in production and it’s not hard to get you head wrapped around at all.

UP, or LWUP (LightWave Unified Physics) from HurleyWorks is not quite ready for prime time but is looking to provide some very cool physics-based solutions to several effects problems we face every day as LightWave3D artists while remaining equally user-friendly. Make sure you read up on what Steve has planned for the product and how he is going to be introducing new features that go beyond fluid effects.

Are you ready to go UP??

Steve Hurley of HurleyWorks is back and you better check out UP as he’s got a special early bird program that ends April 1st (no fooling)!

More Liberty3D.com news is coming!

Yes, we know we have been a little quiet over the last few months but now you have a better idea as to why. There is so much activity going on behind the scenes that people are unaware of but what we want to tell you right here and right now so we make this clear is that we are NOT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS and no, our sales are not “down” or have been impacted in any way, by any of Kat’s comments regarding the delay of LightWave3D 2017. We know who is behind these rumors and why they are being spread, and we are not impressed or surprised really.

But as the saying goes, “actions speak louder than words” and we have continued for 7 years to bring you the goods even when things were looking pretty dark. We are united, we are liberty3D. WE ARE SEVEN.

Let there be light.

Expect some more neat news from us very shortly as we celebrate our 7th Anniversary.